Boos opener



Patented Feb. l2, i924.

ELMER LEO EMERSON, OF

rreasnatrrowiv, IOWA.

Y l E? Ein D003 OPENER.

Application filed August 10, 1922. Serial No. 580,864.

To @ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that l, .lmnn imo EiinRso-N, a citizen o'j the United States, and a resident or" lriarshalltown, in the county of Marshall,

vwhich there is placed Von the roadway approaching the garage and spaced apart Jfrom the garage a distance slightly greater than the length of an automobile, a device for imparting movement to a vdoor operating rod or shaft, and then on the garage doors there is a device to canse the door to open or close when actuated by the said device in the roadway.

My object is to provide a door opener of this class of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, whereby the operator may upon approaching or leaving the garage drive one of the car wheels upon a broad flat plate mounted on the roadway, and which plate when depressed by the weight ot the car will operate to either open or close the garage door; and further in this connection to cause said opening or closing movement to be accomplished without excessive strains on any of the parts, and without slant-ing the door.

A further Objectis to provide an automatic door latching device cio-operating with the door opening and closing device, and whereby when a car is approaching the garage, the door is automatically unlate'hed before the door opening device commences its opening movement, and when a car is leaving the garage the door will be automatically unlatched from its open position before the door closing device commences its operative movement.

In this connection, it is a furtherV object' in its open position so that when-driving the car out of the garage the door cannot be swung closed by the wind.

A further object is to provide a device of the character described which may be used as an attachment and applied to garage doors and drive ways leading to the garage without any material alterations in the doors or the drive ways and without forming a deep pit in the drive way, so that the device may be quickly and easily installed by unskilled operators at a inii'iimum of expense.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts oi the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more `fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a top or plan view of two hinged garage doors with my improved door opener applied thereto, the doors being shown in closed position. The dotted Llines in said figure show the the doors moved to their open position.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged, detail, side elevation of the device to be mounted in the roadway for imparting movement to the'door operating rod.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating the 'oil cushion device.

Figure i shows an enlarged detail elevation of thelower inner corner of the garage' door to which the door fope'atingrod is applied and illustrating'the means for manually operating the door latch device.

Figure l5 shows an enlarged detail view looking downwardly upon the garage door to which the door operating rod is attached, and illustrating the door in its closed position for the purpose of showing the m-eans for manually operating the door latching device.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged detail edge view of the door to which the door koperating rod is applied, and yillustrating the laftches on the Vinner and outer surface thereo Figure 7 shows an'enlarged detail front edge view of the door to which theoperating rod is applied, and illustrating the latch for securinfrthe saine to a latch member onthe operatiiig rod.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used` the reference numeral l0 to indicate the hinged garage door towhichthe operating rod-is directly applied, andli the hinged garage door on the opposite side ot the door opening. n l

For causii'lg the two doors to open and close in unison l have attached to the door 11 an arm 12 which is applied to the inner face et the door when in its closed position, and which extends inwardly from the door.

Fivotally connected to the bracket 12 is a rod 13 which. is also pivotally connected at 14 to the garage door 10. These parts are so shaped and proportioned that when the door is moved trom its closed position., as shown by solid lines in Figure 1, to its open position, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, the door 11 will be swung to an open position, as sho-wn by dotted lines in said figure.

Tn order to operate the doors by power from an automobile approaching or leaving the garage, T place in the roadway at a distance spaced in front ot the garage, a crank shait 15 having two crank arms 16 thereon. These crank arms are so arranged'relative to the shaft that when one et them is suhstantially horizontal, as shown in Figure 2, the other will extend upwardly and in a direction opposite from the irst, as shown in Figure 2.

Formed on one end of the crank shaft 15 is a crank arm 17 and pivoted to the crank arm 17 is a door operating rod 18. For use in connection with each of the crank'arms 18 l provide a broad flat operating plate 19. One othese plates is pivoted at 20 and extends toward the garage doors, and its free end rests uponk one oi the crank arms 1G. The plate 19 is pivotally supported at 21 at its end adjacent to the garage doors, and its free end extends away from the garage and rests upon the other one of the cranks 16, as clearly shown in Figure 2.

Tn order to cushion the movement of the door opening and closing rod I preferably provide an oil cushion device indicated generallyfby the numeral 22, provided with a piston rod 23 which is'attached to the crank arm 17. This oil cushion device is pivotally connected to a stationary support 24, and it comprises a cylinder having a piston 25 therein and a by-pass 26 communicating with the opposite ends of the cylinder. The operation of this oil cushion device is old and well known and it isfamiliar to those skilled in the art.

The end of the door operating rod 18adjacent to the door 10 is preferably provided with a bend at 27 so arranged that the body or' the rod may'stand outside of the door when the door is in its open position, and an end portion 28 of the push rod may extend under the door when it is in its closed position, as illustrated in Figure 5. I preterably cut away a portion of the door at its lower hinged corner, asshown in Figure .4,

to permit this rod to move under the corner of the door. Then the inner end of the rod 18 is extended laterally at 29 parallel with the yinner face of the door when the door is in its closed position, and then upwardly at 30, and this upwardly extended end is pret erably provided with a roller 31.

Mounted upon the inner face of the door adjacent to the roller 31 is a bracket 32 having a horizontally extended plate 33 formed with a rectangular'opening 34, and the roller 31 extends through this opening. The proportions of said parts being such that the roller may move to a limited extent in the annular opening 34 both in a direction parallel with the door and in a direction toward and from the door.

Mounted upon the inner 'tace oit the door 10 near its lower edge is a latch rod 35, the end thereof adjacent to the roller 31 being formed with an arm 36 extended above the rod and parallel therewith and inclined rearwardly away from the door, as illus-- trated in Figure 5. On the other end of the rod 35 is an arm 37 extending inwardly away from the door and attached to the gravity latch 38 pivoted to the door and designed to engage the latch member 39 fixed to a stationary support on the floor adjacent to the door.

The arrangement of these parts is such that when the roller 31 is moving toward the door, the rod 35 will be rocked in such a manner as to elevate the arm 37 and the latch 38 sufficiently to cause the latch to free itself from the latch member 39, and when the roller 31 is in its normal position, as shown in Figure 5, the latch will move by gravity to its lower position to engage the latch member 39, as shown in Figure 6.

Mounted upon the outer tace of the door adjacent to its tree edge is a gravity latch 40. This gravity latch is designed to coact with a latch member 41 which is secured by a clamp A42 .to the door operating rod 18. This latch vdevice 41 is so positioned upon the rod 18 that when the rod 18 is in itsnormal position and the door is swung open, the latch will not engage the latch 41. This is illustrated in Figure 1 wherein the latch member 41 is shown in solid lines in such position that the latch member 42, which is shown by dotted lines in said figure, would v not engage it, but when the rod 18 is moved and it is desired to remove it, the operator opens the garage doors by hand and when so doing it is at once desirable to latch the garage doors in an open position. pose oi: conveniently and easily aoco-mp ish ing this result l have provided on the inner For the -urface of the-door 10 near its lowerhinged corner, afoot lever 43 to, which is connected a link afl, and this link is pivotally connected to the upwardly Vextending part 30 of the door operating rod, as shown in Figure. 4.

The operation of this part of the'deviceis kfasfollows: y

The operator swings the door 10 to a partly open position. He then presses upon the foot lever i3 which causes the door operating rod 18 to move bodily in a directionA away from the garage and lfar enough to brmo the latch member l1 to osition where the latch member 40 will engage it when the In practical operation and assuming thatv the device is in the position shown by solid lines in Figure 1 and an automobile is approaching, then if one lof the front wheels of an automobile is run upon the broad/flat pla-te 19 at the left side, which applied a pressure downwardly upon the crank 16 and the roller 31 against the arm 36 of the latch' applies motion to the crank 17 in a direction tendingto pull the door operating rod 18 away from the garage. rlhis movement will have the effect of first forcing rod 35 in a forward direction or against the inner face of the door. rIhe square opening 34 in the plate 83 permits this movement. Obviously, the first action, therefore, of a pull upon the rod 18 will be to release the latch 38 and a further pull upon the rod 18 will operate to swing the doors open.

Then the door 10 is swung to an open position, the latch l() on its outer face will engage the latch member l1 and latch the door in an open position, and this will be the result because the rod 18 is at its limit of movement away from the door, and hence the latch member Ll1 will be in the path of the latch 40. During this movement the' oil cushion will operate to cause the door to open slowly without slamming, and the weight of the automobile is suflicient to open the door under any normal conditions. Then the door is opened as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, the rod 18 will be displaced latcrally a slight distance, as shown by dotted lines, because its attachment to the door is not in vertical alinement with the hinges of the door.

After the automobile has been driven through the open doors, the operator then closes the doors by hand. This is preferably,

done by moving the rod 18 aslight distance in a direction toward the door, thus releasing the latch member 41 from the latch 4,0, and when the door 10 closes it will automatically latch because the latch V38 will engage the latch member 39 by gravity.

l/Vhen is desired to open the door by hand, the operator simply moves the rod 18 in a direction away from the door and this may be done by pressing the Alatch member 41 with his Vfoot whereupon the latch 38 is re leased,and the door may be swung open.

If it is desired tolatch the door in an open position, the operator may move the rod 18 ina direction away from the garage by pressing upon the foot lever 4S until thev latch member l1 .is inpositicn in thebend of the latch 40, then when the operator drives one of the car wheels over the inner one of the broad flat plates 19, the rod 18 -will ybe pushed in a direction toward the` garage, thus first releasing the latch Ll0 and then causing the doorto swing shut.

rIhis movement of the upwardly extended end 30 of the rod 18 in two different directions relative to the plate 33 may be effected 31, may talre place for the purpose of operate` ing the latches before the rod 18 commences to either openor close the door.

I claimas my invention:

1. In a device of the class combination of a hinged door, a door operating rod, means for operating said rod, said rod having one end extended to a point adjacent to the inner sideV of the door whenit is closed and then parallel with the inner face of the door and then upwardly, a bracket Secured to the door and having an opening therein through which the upwardly extending end of the door operating rod is projected, said opening being large enough to permit a limited movement of the upwardly extending end of the operatin rod both in a direction parallel with'the inner face of therdoor and in a direction at right angles to the door when it is in its closed position, a door latch secured to the door, and means operated by the movement of the door operating rod wit-hin the bracket for releasing said latch, said parts being so arranged that after the latch has been released a continued pull upon the operating rod will swing the door open, a latch mounted on the outer surface of the door, and a coacting latch device secured to the door operating rod to co-operate therewith.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hinged door, a door operating rod, means for operating said rod, said rod having one end extended to a point adjacent to the inner side of the door when it is closed and then parallel with the inner face of the door and then upwardly, a bracket secured to the door and having an opening therein through which the upwardly extending end of the door operating rod is projected, said opening being large enough to described, the

permit a limited movement of the upwardly extending end of the operating rod both in a direction parallel with the inner tace of the door and in a direction at right angles tothe door when'it is in its closed position,

a door latch secured to the door, means operated by the movement kof the door operating rod within thev bracket for releasing said latch, said parts being so arranged that after the latch has been released a continued pull upon the operating rod will swing the door open, a latch mounted on the outer surface oi' the door, and a coacting latch device secured to the door operating rod to co-operate therewith, said latter latch device being so arranged that it may be released from the latch device on the outer surface of the door by a longitudinal movement of the door operating rod.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hinged door, a door operating rod. means for operating said rod, said rod having one end 'extended to a point adjacent to the inner side of the door when it is closed and then parallel with the inner face of the door and then upwardly, a bracket secured to the door and having an opening therein through which the upwardly extending end of the door operating rod is projected, said opening being large enough to permit a limited movement of the upwardly extending end of the operating rod both in a direction parallel with the inner face of the door and in a direction at right angles to the door when itis in its closed position, a door latch secured to the door, means operated by the movement of the door operating rod within the bracket for releasing said latch, said parts being so arranged th at after the latch llas been released a continued pull upon the operating rod will swing the door open, a latch mounted on Vthe outer surface of the door, a coacting latch device secured to the door operating rod to co-operate therewith, said latter latch device being so arranged that it may be released from the latch device on the outer surface of the door by a longitudinal movement of the door operating rod, and a foot lever secured to the door and designed when depressed to move the door operating rod in a direction tending to place the latch device that is secured to the door operating rod in position to engage the latch device on the outer surface of the door when the door is swung open. Y

Des Moines, Iowa, July 29, 1922.

ELlVUER LEO EMERSON. 

